June 2018

This morning, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case of Janus v. AFSCME. As expected, the Court’s ruling on Janus makes it even easier for anti-worker extremists to further rig our economy against working people by limiting our ability to come together in unions.

We will not back down.

Members of SEIU Local 221 joined their brothers and sisters across the country today to declare their resolve to stick together in their union. SEIU members remain dedicated to uniting more working people in unions and holding politicians accountable for creating good union jobs.

As SEIU Local 221 Member Political Organizing Chairwoman Crystal Irving said: “We’re proud to stand strong with our brothers and sisters across California and the nation. Together we rise!”

SEIU Local 221 members will be using #WeRise and #Union on social media to show their unity in the face of the Supreme Court’s decision. SEIU members and Fight for $15 and union activists know that when working men and women join together, they gain the power in numbers to raise wages, win affordable healthcare and make a dignified retirement possible.

This is a decision that has community impacts and community leaders and Invest in San Diego Families Partners are stepping up to show their support, too.

“We stand in solidarity with union members, a positive force for our communities,” said Bishop Cornelius Bowser, Pastor of Charity Apostolic Church and SDOP member. “I have seen firsthand the difference that unions make in people’s lives and the positive force that they are in the community.”

We will remember June 5 as an important day in our plan to change the Board of Supervisors! When the votes were counted last night, our endorsed candidate Nathan Fletcher surpassed expectations and came out on top!

I want to personally thank all of our SEIU 221 members who volunteered and sacrificed your time to precinct walk or phone bank during this 2018 Primary Election season. Your leadership and actions have moved our union into a position where we now have an opportunity to elect real champions. Our endorsed candidate in District 5, Michelle Gomez also advanced to the general election.

This November our members can change the board. We can elect board members who will fight for workers and their families and enable us to get real equity in our wages and benefits for our members and better services for our community.

SEIU endorsed candidates from the top to the bottom of the ballot advanced. Our work to boost turnout in Congressional District 49 (Darrell Issa’s seat) is going to advance a strong worker candidate to November, which appears to be Mike Levin. Other key endorsed candidates that advanced to November included Gavin Newsom (Governor), Kevin de León (US Senator) and Tony Thurmond (State Superintendent).

What’s next: Our Member Political Organizer Committee will be reviewing and debating our November election priorities. We are also awaiting the certification of our 103,000 submitted signatures for the Full Voter Participation Initiative, which will decide county elections when the most people vote. After the signatures are certified, our next step will be to mobilize a vote of YES on the November ballot.

There are still some votes that are being counted and we will post the full list of results of our endorsed candidates later this week, but for now thank you and congratulations to all members that voted and volunteered to help our union have a great Election Day.